Happy back-to-school time! This is the time of the year that’s like our teacher marathon, and boy do I feel that! Between back-to-school night, school supply lists, and setting classroom management and expectations, I’m #teachertired! But I have a classroom tour to share so that tiredness can wait!
With that said, I’m here with a little classroom tour and I’m so excited to share. This is a real-life, not Pinterest-perfect classroom. But I figured I’d just share what my real middle school classroom tour looks like.
If you are looking for tips and tricks to set up your classroom, be sure to check out this post all about creaeting the perfeect classroom set up.
This year is a bit of a change for me, I’m teaching just 6th-grade math and science. I’ve taught a lot of different grades and subjects and have taught this combo before so it’s not all that new. BUT I will miss teaching 5th graders! If you follow along with the 5th-grade math content, it’s not going anywhere! I’ll just be chatting about 6th-grade math too….and maybe some science content thrown in 🙂
Anyway, let’s get onto the classroom tour! The last thing I want to do is to be like the food bloggers that share a whole life backstory before sharing the actual recipe!
Middle School Science Classroom Tour
My classroom is a science lab technically so I have different furniture than a normal math classroom. I have a love-hate relationship with these tables. I love the collaboration aspect, and yes they are great for spreading out during lab time. But, they take up a lot of space and this room can only be arranged 1 way. The max number of students I have in my classes is 29 so I only have to have 5 chairs at each table. In my smaller classes, I try not to use the end chairs as they can be a little cramped.
Student Organization Supplies
Next up is a student organization system. I trying out table bins this year. I used to use them in elementary and they worked amazingly. Last year I’d have a couple of bins that I would use for days when we used scissors and glue but I was re-creating the bins each time. This year, these bins will just live on the tables and hold scissors and glue sticks all the time. If we need something for a particular lesson, like highlighters or rulers I’ll just add them for those days. I’ll keep you updated and see how that goes!
The table bins are actually easter baskets that I picked up when they were 90% off, so yes each bin was $0.10! Score! I have also used book bins like these or a similar bin option from IKEA. The book bins did fall over as they are from the dollar store but I like the smaller size for middle school. In elementary school, I loved the IKEA ones as they can hold take-home folders.
Classroom Tour: Front Teacher Area
This is my front teacher area and the main place where I teach from. This podium is so handy to put my computer on and any supplies I need for the day. The bookcase is mainly used to hold my teacher’s toolbox, the phone, and random supplies like clipboards and cleaning supplies.
This is what my front board looks like for now. I love this ‘be the change’ wall set from Lone Star Teacher. Last year this is where I hung my vocabulary words for the unit but I moved that to a different wall. Underneath the board, I use as space for homeroom things like quarterly goal setting.
I use tape on the whiteboard to create a space for learning targets, agendas, and homework assignments. With 2 subjects, I didn’t want to take up a lot of space so I color code everything. Math is pink and science is green.
I also print my learning targets for easy switching. If you want to check out the math I Can Statements I have them linked in my shop here. The science statements will be coming soon!
Content Wall: Math Posters & Science Vocabulary
This wall is where the bulk of the content goes. One half of this wall is for science vocabulary and the other half is for math anchor charts. This space gets added to with the students, hence why it is still blank. I made the letters using this font at size 1000.
Famous People in Stem
The other side of my classroom is for highlighting Famous People in Stem. I want my students to be able to see themselves as scientists and mathematicians so this is a nice little wall. We talk about these people each week during homeroom and during the different units in math and science. Famous Fridays are totally a thing in my classroom!
Student Supply Center
This back corner of the room is the student center. This is where the pencil sharper lives, 2 turn-in bins (one for math and one for science) as well as math stations. We do stations every Friday in math so I like just leaving out the partner math games. These bins make it easy to switch out the game options. If you want to learn more about math stations, I have a FREE 5-part video series all about starting math stations in your 4th-6th grade classroom. Drop your email below to get those videos sent straight to your inbox.
The bottom shelf has whiteboards, dry erase markers, and coloring utensils. Students can grab what they need at the start of class. If I want all students to have a whiteboard for math, I add it to the agenda slides so that they know to be prepared. My agenda slides are linked here if you are interested, they also come with classroom timers which are perfect for time management.
Classroom Tour: Teacher Desk Set Up
Finally, my little desk area. This space is kind of odd because the room is shaped weird with the window. Not that I am complaining because some science rooms don’t have any windows! I decided to stick my desk here. While I don’t really sit at it with students, it is helpful to have it during lunch and planning time. I have this organizer with all the flair pens and a little wire holder for important papers and forms. I try to keep my desk clean, so this is actually a pretty good representation of what it looks like. My planner stays open to the week we are on so that I always know what is happening. I have my lesson planner up in my Teachers Pay Teachers shop if you are interested.
My 10-drawer cart is honestly a life-saver for keeping things organized. I currently use it for important papers, homeroom things, to copy, and then copies Monday-Friday for both math and science. I combine the subjects because it’s not every day that both subjects have copies. Then at the bottom, I have a next week drawer and a to grade drawer that is honestly the recycle bin drawer.
If you want more teacher organization supplies be sure to check out this blog post. I’ve rounded up my very favorites here.
Cabinets & Countertops
As you have probably noticed, I have so much storage space in this classroom! One side of the cabinets is for all of the science lab supplies. I just use masking tape to label what lab the supplies are for.
The other side of the cabinets is for extra supplies and math things. This side is mostly empty actually but that’s ok.
The back cabinets are a mix of things. 1 cabinet is for safety goggles, another is for storing colored paper, and another is for my things like my purse, snack bin, and old planners.
The upper cabinets are purely for decoration. I store books that I read with my homeroom class, cool science-y things like a fossil and some pinned butterflies, and the binders that I use to organize my master copies for math and science.
More Classroom Tours
These are my favorite classroom tours from all around the internet! Some will link you to Instagram but if they blogged about their classroom I’ve used that link instead. You can also find so much inspiration on Pinterest so be sure to check out classroom organization boards to find even more ideas!
- Classroom Tour | Kyliee Daniels
- Classroom Tour 2021 | Musings from the Middle School | Language Arts
- Middle School Classroom Tour | Manuevering the Middle | Math
- Teacher Tueesday: Classroom Tour | Momfessionals
There you have it- a complete classroom tour of my 6th-grade math and science classroom. If you have any questions about where something is from, drop it below in the comments!
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